The present invention relates to a system for use in the treatment of vascular disease. Vascular disease is a common condition which causes the development of a stenosis, or narrowing, of the vasculature. The resulting reduction in blood circulation in the stenotic vessel may cause a variety of medical problems.
A common treatment of stenosis involves the delivery of a stent via a delivery device, such as a catheter, to the region of the stenosis. Stents are typically a tubular device which can be expanded from a first collapsed state to a second expanded state. The stent may be crimped down over a balloon which is disposed about a distal region of the catheter. The stent delivery catheter advances the stent to the delivery site, at which time the balloon is inflated, causing the stent to expand to its deployed state in which the stent engages the inner walls of the blood vessel, thereby maintaining the vessel in an unrestricted state.
Stenotic lesions may also form at a bifurcation, which is a region of the vasculature where a parent vessel is bifurcated into at least two branch vessels. Bifurcated lesions pose additional challenges for medical treatment. Such cases may require the deployment of two stents in the bifurcated region or, alternatively, a single stent have a first diameter portion for deployment in the parent vessel and a second diameter portion for deployment in the branch vessel.
To assist in the deployment of a bifurcated stent device for treatment of a bifurcation lesion, a specialized catheter can be used which may include a dual balloon stent deployment system. A parent balloon can deploy a first diameter portion of the stent in the parent vessel, while the sidebranch balloon can deploy a second stent diameter portion in a branch vessel. Each of the two balloons is in fluid communication with its own lumen. The lumens are connected to separate inflation devices which deliver inflation fluid through the lumens to inflate the balloons.
What would be desirable is a stent delivery catheter system in which the user could inflate both balloons separately and/or simultaneously without having to disconnect or reconnect the inflation device. It would also be desirable to have a means for indicating to the user which of the dual balloons is deflated at any given time.